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Nigerian Baked Beans

This recipe is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. I refer to this cookbook often, especially when I'm looking for new ideas as the book features over 650 recipes for various beans, vegetables, grains, and dairy. Madhur Jaffery is a renowned specialist in Indian cuisine, and accordingly her book contains an ample number of Asian recipes, though a wide range of regions and foods are represented. The ingredients used are readily available, the instructions easy to follow, and the majority of the recipes are quite simple to prepare, although there are plenty of ideas for special occasions.

Ordinarily I prefer cookbooks with lots of pictures, but the small insert of photos in the center of the book is more than compensated by the descriptions preceding each section and recipe, which includes serving and preparation hints, along with information concerning the origins and traditions of the dishes.

Rinse the beans and soak the beans overnight in several inches of cold water with a little yogurt whey or lemon juice added. Drain and rinse, then transfer to a large saucepan and cover with 3 1/2 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes or until the beans are just tender.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and stir for 2 minutes or until the onion has just wilted. Add the garlic and chilies and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the spices and stir once or twice to coat the onions, then stir in the tomatoes. Cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened.

Preheat an oven to 325°.

Put the peanut butter in a small bowl. When the beans are finished cooking, slowly add a few scoops of the cooking liquid to the peanut butter, stirring as you go. Empty the beans with their remaining cooking liquid into a good size casserole dish. Stir in the tomato mixture and peanut butter mixture, salt and black pepper.

Bake uncovered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the beans are very tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

4 comments:

Question for you, though: Is it possible that you can give the approximate volume for the cooked beans as well as the dry volume? I don't use dry legumes. I only use them canned, drained, and extremely well-rinsed. Otherwise I can't function for three days after I eat these dishes. Not only does the canned product save my digestive system, it also saves a whole heap o' time.

I will add that digestive problems caused by dried beans can be solved if you soak the beans overnight with a bit of whey or yogurt. I also don't find using dried beans really adds onto the cooking time, as I prepare the other ingredients while the beans are cooking.

Ian: Time and space are important factors for the Cavern's collective kitchen -- we-all just don't have the room to do it all from scratch and allow everyone to do his own pet cooking project, so we tend to use shortcuts a lot.

The other reason we don't use dried legumes is that we got an old batch of them once. I'm talkin' that these things were petrified! Soaked 'em for four days...even went so far as to start cooking them to hurry the leaching process...no dice. We ended up throwing out the whole batch, because it was about as edible as gravel.

Based in London, Ontario, a veteran vegetarian for 22 years serves up a collection of delicious culinary creations from her kitchen, with an emphasis on spicy Indian dishes and whole foods. If you want to know what sensible vegetarians eat, Lisa's Kitchen is the place to be.